When we learn about the ways this country has failed its indigenous people, we assume the absolute worst of them are behind us. Which is why a pending lawsuit and the tales of 60 women and counting are so disturbing. In places across the country, it’s alleged, indigenous women are being coerced during childbirth to agree, then being subjected to tubal ligation surgery—in less medical terms, being forcibly sterilized.
It seems shocking that this is an issue today, but maybe we shouldn’t be shocked. Maybe we should be listening. Hopefully we finally are. Since an apology from Saskatoon Health Region last year, a class-action suit has helped more women come forward, and a new senator in Ontario has helped sound the alarm all the way up to the highest levels of our government, Amnesty International and the United Nations. So, what happens next?
GUEST: Kristy Kirkup, Canadian Press